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The Gathas of Zarathushtra. with Extracts from Prof. Lawrence H 374 1HF- OPEN COURT. laws, the descent of man, etc. He thus succeeds in covering up the important re- ligious truth of the Golden Rule. For the sake of increasing the toil of man, ma- chinery was introduced. The devil of the labor question says: " I persuade men that as articles can be produced better by machines than by men, it is therefore necessary to turn men into machines, and they do this, and the men turned into machines hate those who have done so unto them." " Tolstoy winds up his statements as follows : The devils encircled Beelzebub. devil in At one end was the the cape, — the inventor of the Church ; at the other end the devil in the mantle, — the inventor of Science. These devils clasped each other's paws, and the ring was complete. All the devils chuckling, yelping, whistling, cracking their heels and twisting their tails, spun and danced around Beelzebub. Beelzebub, himself flapping his unfolded wings, danced in the middle, kicking up high his legs. "Above were heard cries, weeping, groans, and the gnashing of teeth." THE GATHAS OF ZARATHUSHTRA. 1 Among the sacred books of Mazdaism the GSthas are probably the most im- portant. Zoroaster, or as he is called in the original Zend, Zarathushtra, is repre- sented in the Vendidad and in the Avesta as a demigod, a prophet full of the spirit is, of Ahura, that the Lord ; and his miraculous powers are never doubted. The G&thas, or hymns, unquestionably constitute the oldest documents of Zoroaster's religion. Here the prophet of dualism, far from being a demi-god, is a struggling man confronted with dangers, passing through tribulations, full of hope and fear, cursing his enemies, and promising the peace of God to his friends and supporters. They afford the strongest proof that Zoroaster was really a concrete living person- ality, that his work was historical, and that the later myths that surround his name as a halo are mere accretions which naturally grow around the memory of a great man. Zoroaster was born in Iran, probably in the northwestern part, in Adarbaijan, near the Caspian Sea He impresses his countrymen with the truth that there is but one God, and that the evil principle which contends with God the Lord omni- scient (Ahura Mazda) for the government of the world is the source of all evil. We, all living creatures, are confronted with the great question whether we will serve God or the Evil One, the latter being represented by the Da?vas, presumably the degraded old deities of the Iranian tribes. Professor Mills has translated the GSthas first into Latin and then translit- erated them into the Sacred Books the East, Vol. i of XXX., pp. 393 ; but his aspiration to present them to the public in a readable form suggested to him the idea of publishing a new English metrical version, in which he endeavors to intro- duce the English public into the spirit of the Zarathushtrian Gathas. The book was first published by Henry Frowde, but The Open Court Publishing Company has now acquired the ownership, and we take pleasure in offering the second edi- tion to the American and English public. Even in the metrical form the Gathas are by no means easy reading We have to bear in mind a number of terms which frequently occur, and it is difficult to translate them into English Although Ahura Mazda, the Lord omniscient, is I The G&that of Zarathushtra {Zoroaster) in metre and rhythm, being a second edition of the metrical versions in the author's edition of 1802-1N94. By Lawrence H. Mills, D. D., Hon. M. A., Professor of Philology in the Zend University of Oxford. ChicaRO : The Open Court Pub. Co. Pages, xix, 240 Price, S2.00. MISlF.l I ANFOUS. 375 vie r.od. Ahriman. or \hnnianu is an independent bring Interior to him. yet jinlr distinct ind separate A .: It it ti.mil. in which tba Iranians, ad- Zoroaster ' dressed by Zoroaster, are called upon to choose which side to take. Further, we 1 Copied from a bas-relief at Persepolis. Examples of Persian iconoeraphy in Fairly Sat- mtmimm hutrifUtms, by Edw. Thomas. F. R. S. Reproduced from Tki Hundr,d Gnat,, I Htm, by permission of Sampson. Low. Marston A Co. 376 THE OPEN COURT. have to mention that Zarathushtra makes use of a number of expressions which in the later development of his religion develop into a theological mythology, or, to say the least, angelology. The Amshaspand, or archangels, are personified powers of God, among whom Vohu Manah (Good Thought), Asha (the Moral World Order, or Righteousness), Khshathra Vairya (the Kingdom of Perfection), are the most im- portant ones. They correspond to the archangels of Christianity. In the book before us, Professor Mills took the most important hymns and grouped them in such a way as to indicate the historical order ; the introduction being Yasna xliii., a greeting to an expected champion of his religion. We have good reason to assume that it is addressed to Vishtaspa, the Zoroastrian Constan- tine, the principal hero of orthodox Mazdaism. In Yasna xxix., the second hymn in Professor Mills's collection, we hear the adherents of the prophet cry for assistance from God ; they are represented as the soul of the herd clamoring for a leader, as which Zoroaster presents himself. Ahura Mazda, the Lord omniscient, calls him, and entrusts him with the great mission of extending help to the herd. It concludes with the prayer of Zoroaster : "Grant gladness, O Ahura and the Right, unto these a Kingdom, A Realm with the Good Mind ordered, which and amenity giveth joy ; Of these, O Mazda, ever the possessor first I thought Thee." Zoroaster now enters upon his office (Yasna xxviii.). He prays for assistance from Mazda, to be supported by " His bounteous spirit and the Good Mind's un- derstanding, thus the Herd's soul to appease." He utters the following invocation : ' ' O Righteousness and thou Good Mind, with surpassing chants I'll praise you, And Mazda, for whom our Piety aids the everlasting Kingdom ; Aye, together I adore you ; then, for grace while I call, draw near. "O Holiness, when shall I see Thee, and thou Good Mind, as I discover Obedience, the path to the Lord, to Mazda, the most beneficent ? With that Manthra will we teach foul heretics faith on our God." Zoroaster feels compelled to explain the constitution of the world to his fol- lowers, and he speaks with authority ; he claims to have had a revelation from Ahura Mazda himself. He addresses God in the following stanza : " I who the Right to shelter and the Good Mind, am set for ever, Teach Thou me forth from Thyself to proclaim, from Thy mouth of spirit The laws by which at the first, " this world into being entered ! MISCELLANEOUS. 377 I is . wlirre he jinwrr to tbil I inspiration gum in V.i n.i \\\ the vxallrd ilu.ili-.rn is proil.iimr.1. Thr prophet calls upon Ins people to decide, and nrges nrn single man to choose for himself tins the cars Bw ft with ; behold ir thr M.imrs with the Boil Mind . Faith s choioet must ye now fig, for yourselves, man and man deciding; The great concern is at hand, " to this our teaching awake ye I The substance of his faith is expressed in the belief in two primeval spirits, one good and one evil, between whom we must choose. " Thus are the spirits primeval who. as Twain, by their deeds are famed In thought, in word, and in deed, a better they two, and an evil ; Of these, let the wise choose aright, " and not as the evil-minded ! He explains how the two spirits work, the good one for life, the bad one for death ; how the good one rewards with a Millennium (probably the prototype of the Christian Millennium!, and the bad one leads to the pit. The I>a vas were de- ceived by the Evil One, and thus they fell But we have a chance to choose the right. The Amshaspand, or archangels, are assisting us. and among the powers for good there is Armaiti. the personification of a holy zeal for the good cause, de- votion or endeavor. Zoroaster says: "To us came then the helper with the Kingdom, Right, and the Good Mind : And a body gave Armaiti, the eternal and never-bending . With these who are Thine may she be, as Thou earnest first in creations." The evil ones are doomed : " Then on the host of the Lie the blow of destruction descendeth ; But swiftest in the abode of the Good Mind gather the righteous. With Mazda and Asha they dwell advancing in holier fame." But the course of the prophet is not so smooth. The Kingdom of God (Khsha- thra Vairya) is not so soon released. The powerful rival, a heretical teacher, an idolatrous leader, has risen, and the next Gatha sounds the slogan of war against this dangerous enemy In Yasna xliv Zoroaster preaches the true religion, and sets forth the bless- ings of obedience ; but he seems to have met with disaster, for in Yasna xlvi. we : : ; 378 THE OPEN COURT. possess a cry deprofundis ; the prophet seems exiled, and from the depths of his confusion he asks the Lord : " To what land shall I turn ?, where with my ritual go ? Of kinsmen, allies, or the mass None to content their service offer me. " This know I, Mazda, wherefore foiled I wander My flocks so small, and following so feeble ; To Thee in grief I cry, behold it.
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